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A stack of more than 30 work orders delivered Thursday by the Heron Gate Tenants Coalition to rental corporation Timbercreek is expected to form part of the group's human rights challenge against an impending mass eviction.

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Tenants say Timbercreek has ignored their requests for repairs

Members of the Heron Gate Tenants Coalition delivered a stack of 30 maintenance orders to Timbercreek's office on Aug. 2, 2018, demanding the repair work be carried out as required by law. (Judy Trinh/CBC)

A stack of more than 30 work orders delivered Thursday by the Heron Gate Tenants Coalition to rental corporation Timbercreek is expected to form part of the group's human rights challenge against an impending mass eviction.

Timbercreek has said 150 units in the southeast Ottawa community are beyond repair and need to be demolished.

Heron Gate tenants were given eviction notices in May and have until Sept. 30 to leave their homes.

The coalition has spent the past three months collecting maintenance reports from residents that include complaints of broken screen doors, cockroach infestations, and flood damage that's gone unrepaired.

"It's important to document a persistent pattern of neglect," said George Brown, one of several lawyers helping Heron Gate tenants fight the eviction.

Brown says the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act can put a halt to evictions if the landlord can be shown to have not acted in good faith.

He also said the group is preparing to launch its human rights challenge against Timbercreek in the next few weeks.

Brown said he believes stopping the Heron Gate evictions could be instrumental in preventing a domino effect involving other Timbercreek properties.

It's here where we draw the line in the sand.- George Brown

"It''s a bigger issue for the other thousand tenants that are next, or the other thousand units that are next in Heron Gate," he said.

"[It's also an issue] in Edmonton, where Timbercreek bought a similar property, and in Calgary, et cetera. But it's here where we draw the line in the sand."

Several lawyers are working with <a href="https://twitter.com/herongatetc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@herongatetc</a>. George Brown is one of them. Says work is underway to launch a human rights challenge. Timbercreek owns properties across Canada. Brown worries about domino effect of mass evictions. <a href="https://t.co/iEc9UBhcAy">pic.twitter.com/iEc9UBhcAy</a>

Work orders dropped off

The group successfully dropped off the stack of work orders with a Timbercreek employee at the rental office.

In an emailed statement, Timbercreek said that since May, 70 per cent of residents "impacted by relocation" have either found new places to rent or bought new homes.

The company also said that the majority of tenants being forced to move have found homes within five kilometres of Heron Gate.

According to the email: "Timbercreek is going beyond the requirements of the law in providing relocation assistance [by] recently increasing moving compensation from $1,500 to $2,000 to all impacted residents, including those who have already relocated."

"This compensation is on top of Timbercreek's commitment to paying three months [of] rent for residents and negotiating discounts with Ottawa moving companies."

The company's statement did not address the proposed human rights challenge or the complaints about delayed maintenance work.

The Heron Gate Tenants Coalition says Timbercreek's figures are "not transparent" and that the rental corporation has not provided documents showing how many leases have been terminated.

Lawyer George Brown is working with the Heron Gate Tenants Coalition to launch a human rights challenge to forthcoming mass evictions by rental corporation Timbercreek. (CBC)

About the Author

Judy Trinh

CBC Reporter

Judy Trinh is a veteran journalist with the CBC. She covers a diverse range of stories from breaking crime news to the #MeToo movement to human rights court challenges. Judy aims to be both critical and compassionate in her reporting. Contact her: Judy.Trinh@cbc.ca